I have personally been "awarded" $500 in court for stolen property, of which only $25 was collected. That's when I lost my faith in the American Court of Law.

At least you've been on that side. I lost my faith in the American Court of Law the first time I stepped into it at 16. I proved without a doubt that there was no way that I could have been speeding, but because the officer was an officer, the judge made it stick. I even had the officer doubting himself in the end because I was determined not to get a ticket, by having him tell me when he clocked me and when I stopped... and proving that the distance was less than 100 feet and that a civic couldn't go from 65 to zero in 100 feet on wet pavement. And it's only gotten worse, as I've been in court 5 times, and the other person has lied in each case- blatantly. And won.